Thermos or Canteen?

Question

Which word is more common in English? Thermos or canteen?

KJinCali79 · Accepted Answer

It depends what you are referring to. Thermos itself is a word derived from a trademark (a brand name), and though it can be used for keeping liquids hot or cold, I find it much more common to be used when referring to hot liquids because of the root word 'therm' meaning heat.
As for a canteen, I generally find this to have a military connotation. Furthermore, a canteen can refer to a container that carries utensils and items for cooking, not just liquids.
A similar word you might consider would be a flask.

GPY · Answer

The words have different meanings: "Thermos" (originally a trademark) is a container with a vacuum barrier, specifically designed to keep liquids hot (or sometimes cold). "canteen" is any smallish container for liquids, especially one that one carries while travelling. "canteen" also has several other meanings.

In British English, the "container for liquids" meaning of "canteen" is relatively unusual. To me it has a historical or specialist (e.g. military) feel. In my experience few people use it in everyday conversational situations. "Thermos" may be more common, but to me feels slightly dated, or used only by certain segments of the population. I think that many people would never use the word at all. I would personally say "flask" instead.

The "eating place" meaning of "canteen" is quite a lot more common than the "container for liquids" meaning.

Grapepark · Answer

Which one is the one carried usually by children at school?

BarbaraPA · Answer

Children often have a thermos in their lunch box, espeically if there is something to be kept cold. I send mine with just a plain water bottle.

Anonymous · Answer

BarbaraPAChildren often have a thermos in their lunch box, espeically if there is something to be kept cold. I send mine with just a plain water bottle.

That seems to be a US/UK difference. Americans use the brand name "thermos" for what British people call a flask.

According to the wikipedia article titled Vacuum flask http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_flask#History : The name later became a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_trademark after the term "thermos" became the household name for such a liquid container. "Thermos" remains a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registered_trademark in some countries but was declared a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genericized_trademark in the US in 1963 since it is colloquially synonymous with vacuum flasks in general.

The Cambridge English Dictionary says http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/flask says

flask

noun [C]

flask noun [C] (HOT DRINKS)

UK ( US trademark Thermos) a special container that keeps drinks hot or cold: a flask of coffee/tea

Anonymous · Answer

Hello! This is all very helpful! I was teaching the child that I nanny the proper word for her drink container, and suddenly realized that I didn't know the proper word myself -- thermos or canteen? These insights greatly helped me, so thank you!
I also just wanted to point something out that I feel is rather important. Several of you have suggested "flask" as a viable alternative, and I'm not sure if it's different in the UK, but in the US the word "flask" has a strong connotation with alcohol, so much so that if someone were to suggest that you should put a child's beverage in a flask, they would look at you askance and wonder why you would give a child milk in an alcohol container. Maybe a similarity to draw would be the oddness of, say, pouring apple juice into a wine glass and giving it to your preschooler. It's just not done. It would look strange...and rather inappropriate.
In certainly not trying to criticize here! I'm sure the word is perfectly acceptable in many cultures, but I just wanted to inform to prevent a possibly faux pas. In the meantime, I will keep this site in mind for future assistance while teaching the child new words! Again, thank you to all!

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Anonymousbut in the US the word "flask" has a strong connotation with alcohol,

And "canteen" has a strong connection with camping out and soldiers in the field.
It usually has a heavy cloth cover for carrying.

Anonymous · Answer

AnonymousSeveral of you have suggested "flask" as a viable alternative,

It's not an alternative. It's a US/UK difference. The item in question is generally called a flask, in the UK. What is put in it, makes no difference.

Anonymous · Answer

Anonymousbut in the US the word "flask" has a strong connotation with alcohol, so much so that if someone were to suggest that you should put a child's beverage in a flask, they would look at you askance and wonder why you would give a child milk in an alcohol container.

That's a particular kind called a "hip flask" http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/hip-flask https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_flask It is not the same as flasks in general.

Khoff · Answer

AnonymousThat's a particular kind called a "hip flask" http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/hip-flask https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_flask It is not the same as flasks in general.

But for most Americans, that's the only context in which we ever hear or use the word "flask."

Thermos or Canteen?

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